Moving from outright purchase to contract hire can sometimes be a daunting task but not for Alan Bartlett & Sons who took the plunge back in 2012.
Root vegetable grower and packer Alan Bartlett and Sons made the move to contract hire with Sandicliffe Motor Contracts almost four years ago and haven’t looked back since. Based over two sites in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire and Forres, Scotland, Alan Bartlett and Sons are known nationwide for their quality produce and are recognised as one of the largest producers of parsnips in the world.
The family run firm started small with a handful of pick-up trucks, perfect for roaming around their 3,300 acres of farmland. Now they have almost 25 vehicles, a mixture of executive management vehicles and light commercial vehicles, all funded by contract hire with Sandicliffe Motor Contracts.
“As a family run business, with traditional attitudes and values, we just automatically gravitated towards outright purchase when it came to our company fleet,” explained Toby Bartlett, Company Director and son of founder, Alan Bartlett.
“After exploring our options further, and working closely with the team at Sandicliffe Motor Contracts, we quickly began to understand the business benefits of moving over to an alternative funding method such as contract hire.
“For us, the budgeting aspects of contract hire really works. Each month we know exactly how much our vehicles cost and with maintenance and running costs all included in the monthly rentals, we don’t have to worry about being landed with surprise servicing costs.
“It may have felt like a big move at the time but now almost four years on, we can’t imagine doing it any other way. For business, for us, it just makes sense.”
The relationship between Sandicliffe Motor Contracts and Alan Bartlett and Sons has indeed bloomed over recent years. David Casserley, Area Sales Manager for East Anglia, looks after Toby and the team at Alan Bartlett’s and was instrumental in the move to contract hire.
“Working in fleet management and contract hire, it’s my responsibility to help customers make the right decision for their business,” said David.
“We certainly don’t push the idea that contract hire is for everyone but on meeting with Alan and Toby and understanding their fleet, their drivers and their needs, it was clear that contract hire could indeed work for them.
“We have worked together in a true partnership over the years to create a blended fleet policy with a mixture of multi-purpose vehicles and it was a great achievement in 2013 to see the final outright purchased vehicle make way for yet another Sandicliffe Motor Contracts vehicle.”
With renewals and new vehicles in the pipeline for Alan Bartlett’s they will hopefully continue with their arrangement with Sandicliffe Motor Contracts for many more years to come.
For more information about how moving to contract hire could help your business, call us on 01159 466 466 or email [email protected]
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